January 2, 2019

IMAX B6 mini "cheat sheet"

This is my "cheat sheet" - if you are new to this charger, you really should read the full official manual (it is only 28 pages). I only discuss charging single cells, since that is all I am doing at present.

The user interface is 4 buttons, from left to right

I am working with batteries recovered from old laptop packs, so I select the LiPo battery type (3.7 volt nominal with 4.2 volt charge target). Note that LiHM is available to charge to a 4.35 volt target, which is appropriate for some high capacity 18650 cells.

The menu system is weird and non-intuitive, but I can usually thrash around and get the settings I want. There is some way to save up to 10 settings, which would be a time saver, especially since the unit comes up in multi-cell balance charge mode, and I want to work with single cells.

When it first fires up, it is in a mood to change the basic function, so you can use Dec/Inc to select "Charge" or "Discharge" or "Balance Charge". What I usually do is to press "Inc" once to get Charge instead of "Balance Charge"

If you instead hit "Batt/Prog" at this point, it lets you select battery type. I select LiPo for my 18650 cells. The Batt Meter is hidden amongst these selections. Hit return to make it so. System Settings are also tucked away in here, among which is Hw 1.0 and Firmware 1.13, the serial number is displayed in alternation with the Hw/Fw versions. It looks like the Battery memory is here also.

To change the charge current and number of cells, use "Enter" when at the main menu. This moves first to current and second to number of cells and then around and around it goes.

So, I get out of "Balance charge" to just LiPo Charge, select 1 cell (3.7 volts), and select a charge rate (it allows up to 1.0 amp! I am presently using 0.2 Amps. (Note: my VTAR VP2 charger allows .25, .50, and 1.0 amps).

To start charging, hold down the Enter button until it responds. It will do a battery check then go into a loop cycling between Start and Stop. Hit enter while it is offering Start, and away you go.

Once you get it started charging, it displays the voltage, along with the current being used to charge, and elapsed time. An integer is also displayed which is the maH that has been pumped into the cell during this charging episode.

Memory

Apparently there is no way to change the settings it first comes up in. Someone speculates this is a design "feature" to avoid someone setting it to NiMH mode and getting themself in trouble by accident. Or something.

To get to Memory 1, hit "Batt/Prog", then Dec takes you from LiPo to Batt Memory. Then "Enter" takes you to the first of the 10 memories. If this is all set up and you want to use it, just hold down the enter key. This loads the memory settings, then hold down enter again to start charging as usual. The change the memory settings, tap the enter key rather than holding it down and you will get into a dialog that lets you change the settings.

Storage mode

A "storage" mode is available that will charge or discharge the cell to a voltage level suitable for long term storage (this is typically a "half charged" state). 3.8 volts is generally recommended, but it looks like the B6 targets 3.7 volts.

Remote control software

Software is available that allows the charger to be controlled from a computer via a USB cable. This software is called "Charge Master". It is a big RAR file with the following contents. In other words, windows only, tough luck for linux. 

    ..A....   2287616  2018-08-23 14:55  ChargeMaster2.msi
    ..A....    414208  2018-08-23 14:54  setup.exe
    ..A....  43000680  2010-03-18 15:42  DotNetFX40Client/dotNetFx40_Client_x86_x64.exe
    ...D...         0  2018-08-23 14:55  DotNetFX40Client

Have any comments? Questions? Drop me a line!

Tom's electronics pages / tom@mmto.org